Free There But For The Grace by A. J. Downey, Jeffrey Cook Page A

way between a particularly jagged set of stalagmites, which seemed especially determined to snag clothing—or my flesh—and trap me in place. As that thought settled in my mind, I turned my head—just in time, it turned out, to see movement. I pushed backwards, tearing myself away from the sharp stone, back the way I came. Kasdaye’s blade stabbed deep into my side, instead of plunging through my back. I tore free from his weapon, elbowing him in the face and staggering backwards the way I’d come. He cursed aloud and thrust his sword at me, trying to follow up before I got out of reach. I blocked his attack aside with my arm, going for my own sword. I drew as quickly as I could and lashed at him, but he vanished from where he’d been standing.
    I turned, seeing movement just in time to block his next attack. He deflected my counterattack, trading a couple of exchanges. He quickly realized that, even in my weakened condition, I was better with a sword than he was—which, given my condition, just about made us even. He disappeared again.
    I fell for his feint, and got kicked in the knee for my trouble. I might be the better swordsman, but he wasn’t above fighting dirty. I fell to one knee, getting my blade up to block his downward swing, but still got kicked in the chest. I landed several feet away, near the mouth of the cave. He spread his wings and launched himself towards where I fell, but I avoided him by immediately rolling towards him as soon as I hit the ground. His blade dug into the stone where I’d been lying, and it took him a moment to pull it free. By the time he did, I was back to my feet.
    I swung at him hard, and though he blocked it, the impact pushed him back. I followed up with another forceful blow, this time pushing him to the very edge of the cave, nearly knocking him over the edge. I shoved forward, only to meet open air as he vanished again. I barely managed to catch my balance for a moment, spreading my wings to help, before twisting about. I caught Kasdaye by the wrist as he swung his sword at me, but couldn’t do anything about his pushing forward, driving me off the edge. I kept hold of his sword arm, but since I couldn’t fly, and he could, there was nothing I could do as he did not simply let me fall, but drove me downward into the floor. The stone cracked under the impact, and my vision swam. I lost my grip on my own sword, but did manage to hold on to his wrist. I did my best to defend myself, but he got in several punches from his off hand. I landed a couple punches of my own, while he kept trying to pull his hand free.
    We struggled like that for a few minutes, before he finally managed to escape my grip. He brought his blade up, but before he could get in a good swing, I caught him across the face with a hard right cross, then shoved him off of me. He disappeared again before he hit the floor. I dove for my sword, but he appeared, blocking my path. I rolled out of the way as he stabbed down, then back the other way, avoiding another thrust. I kicked his feet out from under him before he could stab a third time and dragged myself out of reach.
    By the time I’d reached the wall, using it to drag myself back to my feet, he was coming at me again. This time I had my back to the wall, so he couldn’t pull his backstab act, but he was still quick and well-trained, even if his training leaned more towards that of an assassin than a warrior. I blocked the worst of the blow with a wing, but suffered for it. His blade cut to the bone and left a wound severe enough I doubted I’d be doing any more gliding for a while. Before he could follow up, I battered him with the other wing, then followed with a fist, then another, while he was staggered. Thinking I had him off-balance, I rushed for my sword once more, only to have him teleport again, appearing between me and the blade, sweeping low. I evaded the worst of it, but still suffered a deep cut across my thigh, along with ending up